


What If Rey Had Really Joined To The Dark Side?

by Ben_Solos_Writing_Avenger_203



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Dark Rey (Star Wars), Dark Side Rey, F/M, Rey Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22016863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ben_Solos_Writing_Avenger_203/pseuds/Ben_Solos_Writing_Avenger_203
Summary: It's a "what if?"-oneshot covering how things could have turned out if Rey had joined the Dark Side in TROS :)
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55





	What If Rey Had Really Joined To The Dark Side?

Her breath came out in small puffs, condensing in the cold air. The thundering waves outside crashed into the metal hull surrounding her, the echo like a deep rumble of thunder in the skeleton of what once had been the Death Star. But like the old empire, it had had shattered to pieces, finding their last resting-place in a forgotten ocean, on a forgotten planet.

 _Wait for him here_ , the voice whispered. It was the same voice that had let her here, into the Death Star’s metal skeleton.

It had been shortly after the Battle of Crait, as she’d left Leia’s deathbed, that Rey couldn’t take it anymore. It had been too much.

She knew now that Ben had told her the truth: Her parents had not even left her but sold her for booze. The family she’d waited for her whole life had never even existed. Luke had refused to train her on Ach To because what he saw in her had scared him too much. Her friends from the Resistance had loved her, of course, but Rey felt how much she’d changed, the differences between them like a rift too vast to cross. And Ben – the one person in her life that seemed to know her, really know her and accept her, for all her goodness and her badness – had only wanted her to join him because of her power.

Now Leia, the last string to connect her to something like a belonging, had vanished. The love of her life, her brother, her son, so many of her friends, all gone. In the end, it had been a broken heart that took her away from Rey.

Rey was alone now. She had not been able to take all this grief and sadness anymore, but there was only one other path left to choose to escape form all this: a white-hot, searing rage.

It had always been there: Luke had seen it, and Ben, too, in his vision as they’d touched hands in her little hut on Ach To. It felt like a hundred lifetimes ago.

Then, after Leia’s death, that voice had come back to Rey in her darkest hour. It turned out to be the same voice she’d heard in the forest on Starkiller Base, as she had towered over Kylo Ren, blood running from the gash in his face – _she_ had done that, and it had felt right – mingling with the snow beneath them. 

_Kill him_ , it had whispered, _I know you want to do it_. This voice, too, had told the truth.

She had felt that same anger again on Ach To, as she’d discovered it had been Luke who wanted to kill Ben, who led him to finally succumb to the dark side.

Attacking Luke, sending the old man to the ground to kneel beneath her on the temple’s stone steps as he waited for her final strike with the glowing blue lightsaber… it had felt right, too.

 _The light was never the path for you, Rey, the voice had told her. You are rage, you are vengeance, you are darkness… embrace it_.

Then, the last connection to hope and to belonging, had died. And Rey had finally embraced it; all of it, all those sharp edges and dark crevices of her soul.

But still, she didn’t belong.

Footsteps sounded heavy on the metallic ground, reverberating through the ruins. Rey knew it was him.

“Hello, Ren”, she purred as his shadow fell on the opposite wall and Rey finally stepped out of her little nook to face him. With a swift motion, she pulled away the hood of her black cloak and unfolded her staff; the ends now a beaming scarlet that glinted on the metal all around them.

His face fell as he saw her, at the same time her heart stumbled a little. His black curls were wet with saltwater, the scar she’d given him shimmered red in the glow of her new lightsaber.

“Nice outfit”, he quipped, but his voice was silent and sad. “What happened to you, Rey?”

She made a step forward, at the same time as he stepped back from her. But he still didn’t ignite his lightsaber.

“I gave in”, she shrugged, twirling the saber between her hands. “You look startled. Isn’t this“ - she waved her hand over her black flowing robes “- exactly what you wanted? You saw it when our hands touched, didn’t you?”

He didn’t answer.

“There was this voice”, she told him. “It was calling to me, since that day in the forest on Starkiller Base. It wanted me to kill you, and on Ach To it wanted me to kill Luke. That’s me, Ben. That’s what I really am.”

“No, it’s not”, he simply answered and finally ignited his lightsaber. The scarlet cross blades rippled to life.

A split second later, they crashed together, red blades flaring as they crossed. Rey finally jumped back – he was always stronger, but she was faster. With a blow, she singed his black cape and jumped outside, onto the roof of the ruins.

Ren followed, waves crashing over him as he jumped over the wreckage to meet her again. The water around their glowing blades condensed, and Rey’s black gown was soaked through in a matter of seconds. She didn’t feel the cold. Ben walked through a thundering wave as if it was noting, his midnight hair matted to his face.

“That voice is NOT you, Rey!”, he shouted against the churning waters. “It’s Palpatine! He’s trying to control you, to turn you against everything that could endanger his return!”

“Palpatine is dead”, Rey shouted back, not sure if Ren could even hear her.

“He wanted the Galaxy to believe that. But he called to me, too. I refused to meet him on Exegol. Is that why you’re here, Rey? To get the Sith Pathfinder and meet him on Exegol? Is that what the voice told you?”

Rey halted. The voice _had_ told her to come here, but it never occurred to her that it could be something other than her own intuition.

Deep in her heart, she knew Kylo had told her the truth. But still, he’d decided for power instead of her, and he would have to pay for it. With a scream of rage, she crashed into him again, but he dodged her easily enough. The fight went on, with Rey slashing and thrashing against him, while Kylo just avoided her blows and never started an attack himself. He didn’t want to fight her, she noticed. Which made her even angrier.

“What happened to you to give in to it?”, he finally yelled as Rey had retreated a few feet to prepare for her next strike.

“Your mother is dead”, she simply told him.

Through all the darkness that had ensconced itself in her heart, Rey still felt the grief over Leia. Then, she saw his face twisting in anguish at the loss of his mother. Ben staggered back, sinking to his knees as if hit by a blaster. His lightsaber fell to his side, the blood-red blade sliding over the wet metal surface, but he didn’t seem to even notice. His face remained impassive as he stared at her, hurt and grief clouding his dark eyes. The saltwater streamed down his black strands, his face, mingling with the tears on his cheeks.

“Did she suffer?” His broken voice was barely audible against the roaring waves.

Rey shook her head, numbness creeping through her as she saw him kneeling in front of her.

 _He’s weak_ , the voice reappeared in her head. _Weakness is a flaw. Kill him, Rey. This time, you can do it_.

Rey began to make her way towards Ben’s huddled form, the double-bladed saber vibrating in her hand as if in anticipation of what she was about to do. She threw it aside without a second glance, the voice screeching in her head. She didn’t care.

Rey sunk to the wet ground next to him and slowly took both of his hands in hers. The Bond between them flared under the touch.

“I’m so sorry, Ben.”

He looked up and as his gaze found hers, tears were streaming from Rey’s eyes, too.

“I never wanted this to happen”, he whispered. She didn’t have to ask what he meant, she saw it in his thoughts the Bond showed her, felt it in his churning emotions.

“I didn’t want her to die. I never did. And I never wanted you to turn to the dark side, Rey.” He tightened his grip on her hands. “This is not who you are.”

“People keep telling me they know me”, Rey answered. “They don’t.”

“But I do, Rey. I’ve seen who you are. You are strong, and you are understanding and caring and fierce. There’s rage too, but there’s so much more light than darkness in your heart, Rey. I have always seen who you are.”

She was crying now, too, a sob escaping from her chest. Ben let go of her, pulled off his black gloves and put a hand under her chin, gently raising her head to look into her eyes.

“Please, come back to the light, Rey.”

“I can’t. I’ve left; I can never go back.”

“No one is ever really lost.”

Rey blinked, remembering the time Leia had said those words.

“I promised that you’d never be alone”, Ben whispered. “I’ll come back with you, Rey. Let go of the darkness. You can do it, and I’ll be with you all the way, sweetheart.”

Then, he gently pulled her in for a kiss and Rey felt her mind go blank. There was no voice calling to her this time, no rage and no sadness, just Ben. He tasted of salt and tears and Rey never wanted to let go.

As he finally pulled away, they were both breathless. He gave her a smile that told her everything she needed to know and Rey’s heart skipped another beat. She had never seen him smile, and it was beautiful and radiant. Happiness spread through her like a warm light guiding her home.

Ben reached out his for her. “What do you say about we go back to the Resistance, gather up your friends and kill off Palpatine for good, this time?”

“Sounds like a plan”, she smiled and finally, _finally_ , took his waiting hand.


End file.
